NFL refs back tonight as labor deal reached

New York Times

September 26, 2012Updated: September 27, 2012 12:34am

Photo: Bill Kostroun, Associated Press

Image 1of/2

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 2

FILE - In this Sept. 5, 2012, file photo, Commissioner Roger Goodell gestures to fans before an NFL football game between the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys in East Rutherford, N.J. The NFL and referees' union reached a tentative agreement on Wednesday, Sept. 26, to end a three-month lockout that triggered a wave of frustration and anger over replacement officials and threatened to disrupt the rest of the season. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 5, 2012, file photo, Commissioner Roger Goodell gestures to fans before an NFL football game between the New York Giants and the Dallas Cowboys in East Rutherford, N.J. The NFL and

FILE - In this Oct. 31, 2010, file photo, referee Ed Hochuli (85) greets Oakland Raiders fans before an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks in Oakland, Calif. The NFL and referees' union reached a tentative agreement on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2012, to end a three-month lockout that triggered a wave of frustration and anger over replacement officials and threatened to disrupt the rest of the season. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 31, 2010, file photo, referee Ed Hochuli (85) greets Oakland Raiders fans before an NFL football game against the Seattle Seahawks in Oakland, Calif. The NFL and referees' union reached a

The NFL reached agreement on a new eight-year labor deal with its game officials late Wednesday, ending a lockout that forced unprepared replacement officials onto the field, creating three weeks of botched calls, harsh criticism, furious coaches and players, and a blemish — however temporary — on the integrity of the country's most popular sport.

Express Newsletters

Get the latest news, sports and food features sent directly to your inbox.

A crew of regular officials will be in Baltimore tonight to work the Ravens' game against the Cleveland Browns. The members of the officials union will gather in Dallas to vote to ratify the contract Friday, and regular officials will work Sunday's games.

The agreement, which was being put in writing late Wednesday, came 48 hours after the low point of the league's experiment with replacement officials, when an incorrect call on the final play of the Monday night game cost the Green Bay Packers a victory against the Seattle Seahawks.

That nationally televised debacle spurred two days of furious and lengthy negotiations against the backdrop of immense public pressure and scorn, most of it directed at the league. Both sides were so determined to play no more games with replacements that they raced Wednesday night to get officials in place to work this week's slate.

The negotiations with officials were conducted largely by Commissioner Roger Goodell and the league's top lawyer, Jeff Pash, with little of the direct owner involvement that was featured during negotiations with players last year. The latest round of talks began Saturday.

On Monday, before the Packers game, the sides agreed to meet again Tuesday. Once the talks began that morning, they took on a new urgency with some owners, who were concerned about the damage being done to the league's credibility by the replacements, hopeful that a deal would be quickly completed. The sides met for 17 hours Tuesday and went well into the night Wednesday.

The lockout began in June, and while a fight over the officials' pensions was the most prominent hurdle — and the final one that the sides were working on late Wednesday — the league also sought more control over grooming and replacing officials, in the name of improving officiating long term.

But as officiating and the control of the games deteriorated with each week, Goodell came under withering fire, which reached a peak Tuesday morning. The level of the uproar seemed to take some owners by surprise, but there was little question Wednesday night that it spurred them into action. Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay wrote on his Twitter feed that owners were “desperately trying” to get a deal done.

First, though, the league and officials had to please each other. Early Wednesday, they reached a compromise on the hiring of additional officials to create the “bench” that the league wants to use to replace officials it believes are underperforming.

The pension proved more complicated. Officials had hoped to retain a traditional pension while the league wanted to eliminate it in favor of 401(k)s. The officials had offered a proposal to have current officials retain their pensions while new officials who are hired would be enrolled in 401(k)s. That would allow the league to get rid of the pensions by attrition, as the existing officials retired.

On Tuesday night, owners were said to have dug in and were unwilling to make any more concessions. But on Wednesday, they were believed to have agreed to a short period of several years in which current officials would retain their pensions before they are converted to a 401(k).

When they return to action, the regular officials are likely to be rusty for at least a few games; they, like the players, use preseason games to round into form. But they will certainly have a better command of the rules than the replacements did. Even before the regular season began, referee Ed Hochuli became a self-styled headmaster of officiating boot camp during the lockout, circulating five-hour tests on rules among the 121 officials, conducting weekly conference calls to discuss rules and sending around hours of tape every week so that officials will be prepared to step in.

For the frustrated fans, coaches and players, they cannot get back soon enough.